


The Wallpaper

by 3seconds



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03e03 His Last Vow, F/M, Missing Scene, Not Brit Picked, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Screenplay/Script Format, Sherlolly - Freeform, Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2018, canon compliant if you squint, my brain loves coming up with senarios for why Sherlock "needed the space" in Molly's bedroom, romantic entanglement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 15:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14621595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3seconds/pseuds/3seconds
Summary: Sherlock attempts to fix something he damaged. A couple of missing scenes set at the beginning and end of His Last Vow.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was digging through my WIP's and things I've never published and found this. I wrote it for [ Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2018 ](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/sherlollyweek2018/profile) and posted it on Tumblr, but never got around to posting it here. This is self-indulgent Sherlolly Angsty Fluff (but no smut) and just barely canon compliant, so if that's not your gig, turn back now. Thanks to [Virtuella](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Virtuella/pseuds/Virtuella) for the note about Brits using the phrase "going out" instead of "dating". (Couldn't have been better timing!)

_(A missing scene set sometime between TSoT and HLV.)_

**_Evening. Molly Hooper’s Flat._ ** _Molly enters, hangs her bag and coat inside the front door, then walks into the kitchen to find Sherlock preparing himself a cup of tea._

**MOLLY:** ( _looking and sounding mildly annoyed_ ) Sherlock? What are you doing here?

 **SHERLOCK:** I could ask you the same. I thought you spent most nights at his now. Having, what was it? Oh yes… _(making air quotes)_ lots of sex.

 **MOLLY:** ( _Gesturing at her trousers and choosing to mostly ignore his techy attitude)_ I got splashed at the lab. Just popping round for a quick wash before I meet Tom for dinner. You’re welcome to stay, I suppose, if you fancy sitting here by your lonesome.

 **MOLLY:** _(From the bedroom a few seconds later)_ What the h… Sherlock! What is this?

 **SHERLOCK:** Hmmm?

 **MOLLY:** This! All of this …stuff. And more importantly, what’s it all doing on the wall above my bed?

 **SHERLOCK:** _(following her into the bedroom)_ Crime wall.

 **MOLLY:** _(exasperated)_ Obviously…

 **SHERLOCK:** Well, the wall in your lounge isn’t large enough. I needed the space.

_Molly gives him a pointed look._

**SHERLOCK:** The suspect’s PA might see it at Baker Street.

 **MOLLY:** Do the people you’re investigating normally send their assistants round to visit your flat?

 **SHERLOCK:** No.

_This earns him another look._

**SHERLOCK:** …I might be going out with her.

 **MOLLY:** _(incredulous)_ Might be what?

 **SHERLOCK:** You heard me.

 **MOLLY:** Has this woman you might be going out with actually met you?

 **SHERLOCK:** Yes.

 **MOLLY:** And she likes you?

 **SHERLOCK:** Of course. Why?

 **MOLLY:** No reason. I’m going to have a wash and go have lots of sex with my fiancé. Take all this rubbish down before you leave, please.

*****

**_Hours later, Molly returns to a dark, quiet flat._ ** _She strips and changes into a sleep shirt by the dim light filtering in from the window. Sherlock’s crime wall is still in place above her bed. She eyes it with a frustrated but exhausted shrug and crawls into bed._

_An hour or two passes while Molly fitfully sleeps. It’s still dark when she comes awake with a start, shaking herself out of a nightmare that leaves her sweating and gasping. Glancing up at the items arrayed above the bed, she blows out a breath and uses the headboard to pull herself up into standing position on the mattress, then begins to tear the bits of string and paper from the wall._

**SHERLOCK:** Molly, don’t.

_Molly jumps at the realization that Sherlock is sitting the corner of the room._

**MOLLY:** Oh my God, you scared me! How long have you been sitting there?

 **SHERLOCK:** Since you left earlier. …More or less.

 **MOLLY:** As if sleeping under all this _(indicating the collage of photos and maps above her bed)_ isn’t enough to give me nightmares, now you turn up like Edward Cullen.

 **SHERLOCK:** Who?

 **MOLLY:** Edward Cullen, from…. It’s a book. Never mind. The point is you can’t just hang out in my bedroom while I sleep, Sherlock.

 **SHERLOCK:** I’m not ‘hanging out’. I was working.

 **MOLLY:** You’re sitting in a dark corner while I sleep. It’s creepy, even by your standards.

 **SHERLOCK:** I was in my mind palace. Working. I wasn’t even aware you were here until you started snoring.

 **MOLLY:** I don’t snore.

 **SHERLOCK:** Yes, you do. Rather loudly.

 **MOLLY:** _(turning back to wall, angrily pulling more items down.)_ I told you I wanted this rubbish gone!

_Sherlock gets up and crosses the room to stand at the side of Molly’s bed._

**SHERLOCK:** Yes, you said to do it before I left, which I haven’t. Molly, please stop.

_She doesn’t stop. Sherlock crawls up unto the bed on his knees and grabs her arms, holding them so she can’t rip anything else down from the wall. With her standing and him on his knees, she’s a few inches taller. She glares down at him but doesn’t pull away._

**MOLLY:** Why is it always about you? Always! 

 **SHERLOCK:** You ended things with Tom.

 **MOLLY:** No. We just… ( _sighing_ ) We’re on a break. He needs some space.

 **SHERLOCK:** Good.

 **MOLLY:** What?

 **SHERLOCK:** I..erm, I mean… _(He drops his hands, his brow furling)_ I’m sorry.

 **MOLLY:** ( _agitated_ ) It’s just… Why? Why am I always the one to bend? It’s always about what someone else needs. Good ol’ forgiving Molly, she’ll understand. Only I don’t understand. No one seems to care what I need. And now… _(gesturing to the remains of the crime wall)_ Now, you’ve ruined my wallpaper!

_He turns away looking stricken, then turns back._

**SHERLOCK:** What do you need, Molly Hooper?

_(She swallows hard and their eyes lock for a very long moment, he leans towards her, but she shakes her head.)_

**MOLLY:** I need sleep, Sherlock.

_For just a second, disappointment plays at the corners of his mouth. He nods and crawls off the bed, frowning as Molly drops down into sitting position on the mattress. He’s already out of the room when she speaks again, her voice barely a whisper._

**MOLLY:** (quietly) You. 

_He pretends not to hear her._


	2. Chapter 2

_(A missing scene set near the end of HLV - several months after chapter 1)_

**_A few days before Christmas. The kitchen of Molly Hooper’s flat. Evening._ ** _There are fairy lights strung around the kitchen window. Sherlock makes his way around the breakfast bar from the lounge, his jacket discarded, and his shirt sleeves rolled up. He glances at the wall clock. Bill Wiggins appears from the hallway his arms laden with a folding step stool and a small array of buckets and tools._

**WIGGINS:** Alright Shezza. Job’s done.

_A wide wooden brush slips out of his grasp and clatters onto the floor. Sherlock bends to retrieve it and in the same smooth motion, opens the door between the kitchen and the back garden, gesturing towards the out of doors with the brush._

**SHERLOCK:** ( _hurriedly_ ) And not a moment to spare.

 **WIGGINS:** You sure I shouldn’t stay close about? You know, double check the missus is ‘appy with the work?

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _scrunching his face like he’s tasted something sour and shooing Wiggins toward the door_ ) No! And Molly Hooper is not ‘the missus’. Stop talking and leave.

 **WIGGINS:** ( _muttering half to himself as he disappears through the door_ ) Alright then, but I’ve got eyes, me. Keen observational skills. You said it yourself...

_Sherlock slams the door, realizes he’s still holding the wooden brush, reopens the door and tosses the brush out. There’s a muffled shout from Wiggins before Sherlock slams the door shut again. He glances at the clock for the second time in as many minutes, then takes a slow, deep breath. Unrolling his shirt sleeves, he retrieves his jacket from a peg behind the door and shrugs into it, reaching into the pocket for his phone and makes a call._

**SHERLOCK** : Hello Angelo, two orders of the usual. Delivered, please. I’ll text you the address.  

_He ends the call, sends the text, then begins rummaging through the cupboards, pulling down the makings for tea and a few tins of biscuits._

_He’s just switched on the kettle when Molly walks through the door, looking a bit knackered after a long day. She drops her bag onto a chair in the lounge with a thunk, before noticing him in the kitchen and rolling her eyes with an exhausted “Dear God, what now?” expression._

**SHERLOCK:** ( _holds up a tea mug, overly cheerful_ ): Bad day was it? Care for a cuppa?

 **MOLLY:** ( _wearily_ ) What are you doing here? So soon out of hospital too. You should be at home, recovering.

 **SHERLOCK:** I’m in perfect health. Tea?

 **MOLLY:** ( _frowning_ ) What are you playing at, Sherlock? Maybe I should examine you…

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _wrinkling the top of his nose_ ) What? Why?

 **MOLLY:** ( _waving a hand at him with a semi-defeated shrug_ ) I dunno. Because I’m afraid that you’re either high, or lying. Maybe both.

 **SHERLOCK:** I’m not.

_Molly studies him for a long moment, and her features soften as she determines he is indeed being truthful._

**MOLLY:** Alright, then tell me why you’re here. But, if you’re hoping I’ll help you with some silly experiment, I’m really-

 **SHERLOCK:** I was hoping you’d have dinner with me.

_Molly blinks at him, momentarily speechless._

**MOLLY:** ( _finally recovering_ ) Sherlock, what is this about?

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _with a look of complete sincerity_ ) Repairing something I damaged. Attempting to, at any rate. So, dinner?

_A tad overwhelmed, all Molly can do is nod._

_****************_

_A while later. In the lounge of Molly’s flat._ _Sherlock and Molly sit on the sofa, sipping from glasses of wine. Their abandoned dinner plates litter the coffee table. Sherlock’s attention is focused on Molly as she relates an incident from work._

**MOLLY:** ...they’d searched everywhere, but apparently not, because when I opened the bag, well, there it was, if you can believe it! A perfectly normal corpse, with a whopping great python wrapped around his leg. Reggie, the new morgue tech, nearly jumped out of his skin.

_Molly giggles into her wine glass and Sherlock gives her a warm smile, that turns suddenly serious._

**SHERLOCK:** You were wrong, you know.

 **MOLLY:** ( _with a confused laugh)_ No, I know a snake when I see one.

 **SHERLOCK:** You’ve never needed me, Molly Hooper.

 **MOLLY:** ( _taken aback by the sudden subject change_ ) Erm… I, erm… what do you mean?

 **SHERLOCK:** ‘Wanted,’ yes. ‘Needed,’ no. I’m a recovering drug addict, I know the difference.

 **MOLLY:** Oh God, you’re planning to get shot or jump off a rooftop again, aren’t you?

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _smirking_ ) I've already done both. A bit dull to repeat myself.

 **MOLLY:** What then? What mad thing are you planning to do this time?

 **SHERLOCK:** Spend Christmas with my parents.

_Molly gives him a pointed look. He glances away, looking contrite._

**SHERLOCK:** …and I might have it in mind expose a blackmailer. I could go to prison for treason if it goes sideways. I imagine then you’d be angry again…

 **MOLLY:** ( _with a resigned sigh_ ) What do you need me to do?

 **SHERLOCK:** Nothing. John is more useful in this case. Besides, we’re dealing with a dangerous man who could destroy your entire life.

 **MOLLY:** _(half-sarcastically)_ Maybe you should introduce us. Sounds about my type.

 **SHERLOCK:** Molly, I want you to keep well clear of him. Moriarty overlooked you. Magnussen would not.

_Molly looks in turns frustrated and worried, then takes a deep breath and shakes her head a little._

**MOLLY:** You’re never going to stop doing this are you? ...finding ever more clever ways to possibly kill yourself, just to stop yourself from being bored?

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _shaking his head in agreement_ ) No. Probably not.

_Molly’s gaze drifts down to where her hands are clutching her now empty wine glass. Sherlock pulls the glass from her fingers and sets it on the coffee table. He turns back to face her, reaching up to gently tip her face up to meet his._

**MOLLY:** ( _softly, without malice_ ) You’re such an idiot.

 **SHERLOCK:** _(gives her a lop-sided smile)_ No arguments on that count.

_He leans in and hesitantly brushes his lips against hers in a slow, slightly chaste kiss. Molly closes her eyes and after a moment, kisses him back. The kiss begins gentle and tentative, but quickly escalates into something more._

**MOLLY:** ( _finally pushing him away, a little breathless_ ) Sherlock, what are we doing here?

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _cocks an eyebrow at her_ ) Bit obvious, surely.

 **MOLLY:** But you… earlier, you mentioned fixing something. Was all of this, dinner and everything… is it just… You’re not planning to break into my boss’s office are you?

 **SHERLOCK:** ( _brow furling_ ) I repaired your wallpaper.

 **MOLLY:** My wallpaper?

 **SHERLOCK:** Where I ruined it last summer with the crime wall.

_Molly blinks at him for a moment, then chews her lip as if she's making a decision._

**MOLLY:** ( _suggestively_ ) You mean the wallpaper in the bedroom?

 **SHERLOCK:** _(smiling and leaning in to kiss her again)_ Yes.

_Molly stands, taking his hand to tug him up off the sofa with her._

**MOLLY:** I suppose we should go inspect your handiwork.

_Sherlock follows her into the bedroom and gestures at the wall over the bed_

**SHERLOCK:** See? Good as new.

 **MOLLY:** _(pulls him toward the bed)_ I never really cared about the wallpaper, Sherlock.

 **SHERLOCK:** Yes, I know.

###


End file.
